NTUC FairPrice extends 'no plastic bag' trial for another year
NTUC FairPrice's "no plastic bag" trial will be extended for another year, starting next Monday.
First introduced for a month from Sept 16 to Oct 16 at seven outlets, customers will now have to pay for plastic bags at 25 outlets - 12 FairPrice supermarkets, five Cheers outlets and eight FairPrice Xpress outlets - said FairPrice in a statement yesterday.
Each plastic bag will be charged at 10 cents per transaction at Cheers and FairPrice Xpress stores, and 20 cents per transaction at FairPrice, FairPrice Finest, FairPrice Xtra stores.
The proceeds of plastic bag sales will go to the Singapore Children's Society and The Straits Times School Pocket Money Fund, said Mr Seah Kian Peng, group chief executive of FairPrice Group.
The pilot trial, which studied bring-your-own-bag (BYOB) behaviours, concluded on Oct 16 and raised $19,000.
A total of 1,745 customers were surveyed, and results showed that 73 per cent of customers support FairPrice's plastic bag reduction efforts.
Although 34 per cent said that they never bring their own bags, 71.1 per cent said that they supported plastic bag charges at supermarkets.
FairPrice targets to save 30 million plastic bags per year by 2030.
It will continue to raise awareness on the importance of plastic waste reduction to customers.
Some new initiatives will engage the public to donate their clean reusable bags in participating stores for redistribution to customers who may need it.
In the first trial, FairPrice collaborated with community partners and volunteers from Zero Waste SG and Young NTUC.
EDUCATE
Mr Seah said that FairPrice will be liasing with government agencies this time, to efficiently reach out to the public and better engage the community.
He said: "FairPrice Group will continue to work with like-minded partners to educate and encourage the public to adopt sustainable habits and practices.
"We invite other supermarket retailers to join us as we work towards minimising excessive use of plastic bags as a nation."
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